Nissan GT-R GT500 (R35 MY2017)

Nissan launched its 2017 Super GT GT500 car at Twin Ring Motegi in late 2016, alongside rival machines from Honda and Toyota. Unlike its rivals which had both opted to introduce new models Nissan chose to stick with the GT-R Nismo (R35) as its base model, however the bodywork of the 2017 car is substantially different to that of the 2016 design. This is due to new aerodynamic regulations aimed at reducing the cornering speed of GT500 cars by reducing downforce.

GT500 cars share a large number of common parts with the German DTM series including the impact structures, transmission and suspension elements. The chassis itself is a common design too.
The common chassis has been developed by a European group based in Italy and Germany. It is a combination of carbon-fiber monocoque and steel roll-cage and front, rear and lateral crash elements. The monocoque weighs only 126 kilograms, the roll cage 32.5 kilos. The entire sidewall must withstand a force of 360 kN during the side impact test, which equates to around 36 tons.
Whilst the cars all share the same basic design of chassis the GT500 cars have their tubs manufactured in Japan by Toray Carbon Magic.

The GT500 cars use a number of other components from the DTM design including the front splitter, floor, rear diffuser and rear wing but these differ slightly between the two series, indeed in 2017 the rear wing is entirely different.

As standard components, only the engine subframe at the front and gearbox at the rear restrict the engineers’ freedom to design the suspension geometry. The suspension pick-up points must be mounted to these standard elements. In addition, tube dimensions and the material, steel, for the wishbones are fixed and numerous dimensions are defined by the regulations.
All GT500 cars are powered by highly advanced turbocharged two litre direct injection four cylinder engines (dubbed NRE) which produce around 650bhp and 700Nm torque. In the GT-R GT500 it is the Nissan Nismo NR20A (above on the dyno).
As Nissan chose not to introduce a new model for 2017, a direct comparison can be made between the 2016 car (above) and the 2017 version (below).
A first proper look at the car in test trim could be had at Fuji Speedway in December 2016. Thanks to Nismo.tv we got a chance to look over the car there.

An imaginary ‘design line’ runs along the side of each car above both wheel arches and along the side of the door.
Above the line bodywork is restricted to the original shape (albeit rescaled) of the production car, everything below that line is free.
It is a major development area for the manufacturers in both DTM and GT500. Nissan launched its 2017 car with a fairly conventional design in this region (above) but by the time the car appeared at the annual Nissan motorsports announcement in early 2017 it was clear that it had been completely reworked (below)
Note the jagged section on the trailing edge of the front wheel arch (below).
It is not clear where Nissan does its aerodynamic development but rumours in Japan link it to scale model testing at the second Mercedes F1 tunnel in Brackley, England.
The exhaust exit is only located on the right hand side of the car.
From the rear of the car one of the biggest areas of change could be seen from the moment NISMO released images of the 2017 version of the car (above).
Compared with the 2016 version of the car (above) the diffuser on the 2017 car is clearly much smaller, this is by regulation. Both DTM and GT500 have reduced the size of the diffuser significantly.
This area of the car did not remain unchanged between the 2017 car launch and testing in Okayama and Fuji. On the black ‘230’ launch spec car the upper part of the trailing edge of the rear wheel arch is filled in. However in testing all four Nissan GT-R’s had new bodywork in this section with the upper part scalloped out (as can be seen above) – similar in design to the 2016 and 2017 Lexus.
Taking a look under the bodywork it is clear to see the upper part of the plenum, with its silver coloured heat shield, the main combustion air duct can be seen in the centre of the image sat between the two radiator air outlet ducts. It appears that combustion air is fed to the engine via the ‘V-Motion’ grille at the front of the car.
From a slightly different angle more of this arrangement of cooling ducts, pipework and suspension components can be seen. The two litre turbocharged engine is almost entirely hidden. Note the front suspension layout with pushrod actuated spring damper units, these are control parts. The front brakes visible in this image are control parts also, but suspension geometry is free

Sam Collins has worked for Racecar Engineering for more than a decade. His passion for racing began during his work experience in the loom shop of Williams F1 aged 16 and he has been involved in the sport ever since. Sam attended Oxford Brookes University to study Automotive Engineering and has written for many publications since, including Motorsport News and Autosport. He is Associate Editor of Racecar Engineering

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